2019 Hot Seat

#101
#101
05_never_again said:
As much as I love to rag on the Haslams, they also were involved and donating gobs of money when we were really good. There are a lot of other things in play, and our group of boosters at large, ex-Haslams, are also incompetent.
Click to expand...

The problem is that they've tied their donations to defacto control of the athletic department. I'm fine with with big money donors getting the ear of the AD, and to some extent, having a voice in the discussion, but Jimmy's "take my money and go home if I don't get my way" mindset is what got us in this mess with centering on Shiano as the only target after Butch's termination
 
  • Like
Reactions: 508mikey, VOL_Lyfe, tbwhhs and 1 other person
#102
#102
BeardedVol said:
The problem is that they've tied their donations to defacto control of the athletic department. I'm fine with with big money donors getting the ear of the AD, and to some extent, having a voice in the discussion, but Jimmy's "take my money and go home if I don't get my way" mindset is what got us in this mess with centering on Shiano as the only target after Butch's termination
Click to expand...
I agree, but almost all of our boosters, not just Haslam, act that way. Charlie Ergen is the only one to seems to think that his donations are just that, donations. Everyone else acts like their donations buy them shares of ownership of the athletic department. I wish we had more Tim Cooks among our boosters...people with gobs of money and are generous with it, but aren't interested in (or are just too busy themselves) throwing their weight around within the AD. I've actually heard rumblings that since Jimmy bought the Browns, he's been somewhat less involved/focused on UT, but the Schiano mess had his fingerprints all over it, so who knows.

As incompetent as Haslam is, on the flipside if Thunder Thornton, Allan Jones, Charlie Anderson, and that faction had their way, Fulmer would probably still be the head coach, and would be able to hold on to that position until he was ready to walk away, even if that meant going 0-12 before doing so.
 
#103
#103
Derek Mason is supposedly on the hot seat. He is NOT the problem. The problem is that he’s coaching at Vanderbilt, which is the problem. He took the program to 2 bowls in 4 years.

It’s difficult to recruit there, the facilities are terrible, and there’s zero fan support. He plays a ‘road’ game virtually all season.

But...if they fire Mason, the smart move would be to look at Jeff Monken at Army. Vandy isn’t going to compete with the SEC by trying to do what everyone else does. Switching to a triple option offensive philosophy could be the key to them being more competitive in the SEC.

Hopefully Vandy doesn’t share the same thoughts as me, but it is a bold and wise move. I would hate having to face a triple option offense every season.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Tennesseefan2019
#104
#104
gordonr24 said:
Derek Mason is supposedly on the hot seat. He is NOT the problem. The problem is that he’s coaching at Vanderbilt, which is the problem. He took the program to 2 bowls in 4 years.

It’s difficult to recruit there, the facilities are terrible, and there’s zero fan support. He plays a ‘road’ game virtually all season.

But...if they fire Mason, the smart move would be to look at Jeff Monken at Army. Vandy isn’t going to compete with the SEC by trying to do what everyone else does. Switching to a triple option offensive philosophy could be the key to them being more competitive in the SEC.

Hopefully Vandy doesn’t share the same thoughts as me, but it is a bold and wise move. I would hate having to face a triple option offense every season.
Click to expand...
Actually 2 bowls in 5 years, and headed to make that 2 in 6.

IMO James Franklin being there, in addition to there just being more money in the conference than ever before, has raised expectations generally for football programs. Even Vandy. They certainly don't expect James Franklin era results every year, but they do think they can make a bowl most years. That's the impression I get and that's what I've been told by a Vandy friend of mine and a family member who went to Vandy but is a Tennessee fan. They even have an outside shot of making a bowl with 5 wins (if there weren't enough 6-win teams) because their APR is always really good.

Personally, I think the only reason Mason is still there because he's 3-2 against us. In 2016 and 2018, their 6th victory of the season came in the finale against us, and was the reason they got to a bowl. Those are the only bowls he's been to.

Vandy has had a real gift for the last decade - their big in-state rival has been awful. That used to be an automatic L on the schedule, now it isn't. In large part due to Tennessee's struggles, their path to a bowl isn't necessarily easy for them but it also isn't incredibly difficult, especially if they aren't playing a great P5 non-conference team in any given year. To get to a bowl, they need to go 3-5 in SEC play. They could even afford a 2-6 if they beat their P5 non-conference team. Then just take care of business in the other non-conference games.

If I'm Vandy, I'd make it a goal to beat Kentucky (because they are the next-worst SEC East program), then hope you catch a couple of your other conference opponents and/or your P5 non-conference on a bad day.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Volatility
#105
#105
gordonr24 said:
Derek Mason is supposedly on the hot seat. He is NOT the problem. The problem is that he’s coaching at Vanderbilt, which is the problem. He took the program to 2 bowls in 4 years.

It’s difficult to recruit there, the facilities are terrible, and there’s zero fan support. He plays a ‘road’ game virtually all season.

But...if they fire Mason, the smart move would be to look at Jeff Monken at Army. Vandy isn’t going to compete with the SEC by trying to do what everyone else does. Switching to a triple option offensive philosophy could be the key to them being more competitive in the SEC.

Hopefully Vandy doesn’t share the same thoughts as me, but it is a bold and wise move. I would hate having to face a triple option offense every season.
Click to expand...

I can't understand why more teams don't go ahead and switch to the triple option, if I'm a team that's historically bad this will at least make us scary especially if you have a fast/tough QB (looking at Mississippi State & Ole Miss). Hell this is why everyone hated playing Paul Johnson at GT and now one year removed from the triple option they lose to the citadel.
 
#106
#106
05_never_again said:
Actually 2 bowls in 5 years, and headed to make that 2 in 6.

IMO James Franklin being there, in addition to there just being more money in the conference than ever before, has raised expectations generally for football programs. Even Vandy. They certainly don't expect James Franklin era results every year, but they do think they can make a bowl most years. That's the impression I get and that's what I've been told by a Vandy friend of mine and a family member who went to Vandy but is a Tennessee fan. They even have an outside shot of making a bowl with 5 wins (if there weren't enough 6-win teams) because their APR is always really good.

Personally, I think the only reason Mason is still there because he's 3-2 against us. In 2016 and 2018, their 6th victory of the season came in the finale against us, and was the reason they got to a bowl. Those are the only bowls he's been to.

Vandy has had a real gift for the last decade - their big in-state rival has been awful. That used to be an automatic L on the schedule, now it isn't. In large part due to Tennessee's struggles, their path to a bowl isn't necessarily easy for them but it also isn't incredibly difficult, especially if they aren't playing a great P5 non-conference team in any given year. To get to a bowl, they need to go 3-5 in SEC play. They could even afford a 2-6 if they beat their P5 non-conference team. Then just take care of business in the other non-conference games.

If I'm Vandy, I'd make it a goal to beat Kentucky (because they are the next-worst SEC East program), then hope you catch a couple of your other conference opponents and/or your P5 non-conference on a bad day.
Click to expand...

Meant to say he took them to two bowls in the last 4 seasons.
 
#107
#107
OleRockyTop said:
I can't understand why more teams don't go ahead and switch to the triple option, if I'm a team that's historically bad this will at least make us scary especially if you have a fast/tough QB (looking at Mississippi State & Ole Miss). Hell this is why everyone hated playing Paul Johnson at GT and now one year removed from the triple option they lose to the citadel.
Click to expand...
I agree. It's a great option for programs that simply aren't going to be able to compete at a high level because they are resource-constrained. It's definitely an option Vandy should explore.

I was always a little surprised that Georgia Tech decided to go that route. Tech isn't a historically dominant program, but they have a higher standing than Vanderbilt or the service academies. I don't think Tech's best or only shot to be successful is the triple option.
 
#108
#108
05_never_again said:
I agree. It's a great option for programs that simply aren't going to be able to compete at a high level because they are resource-constrained. It's definitely an option Vandy should explore.

I was always a little surprised that Georgia Tech decided to go that route. Tech isn't a historically dominant program, but they have a higher standing than Vanderbilt or the service academies. I don't think Tech's best or only shot to be successful is the triple option.
Click to expand...

Yeah I agree GT doesn't necessarily need it to be successful, they should be able to get recruits in that state even if they are 2nd tier to UGA.
 
#109
#109
OleRockyTop said:
Yeah I agree GT doesn't necessarily need it to be successful, they should be able to get recruits in that state even if they are 2nd tier to UGA.
Click to expand...

It’s the unwillingness to upgrade facilities which is why I believe Georgia Tech went the triple option route when it hired Paul Johnson.
 
#110
#110
OleRockyTop said:
Yeah I agree GT doesn't necessarily need it to be successful, they should be able to get recruits in that state even if they are 2nd tier to UGA.
Click to expand...

Academically, they are the Vandy of the state. Regardless of their offense, recruiting will be tough. What UGA passes on will go to Auburn, Clemson, and UT or SC. Kennesaw State will pick some up. GT doesn't have a big shot at too many elite in state players.
 
#111
#111
gordonr24 said:
It’s the unwillingness to upgrade facilities which is why I believe Georgia Tech went the triple option route when it hired Paul Johnson.
Click to expand...

They don't have much real estate to upgrade with. They basically can only over haul what exists. The stadium is not horrible. Went to the GT/FSU game there years ago. I've been in worse. Also been in some HS stadiums that are better.

[After AAA Hart County got renovated, it's better than quite a few colleges, on a smaller scale. Nice brick wall surrounds about half the complex. Nice brick arch main entrance. Good stands. A lot already existed. Replaced the grass with that fancy new turf. Just lost their 1st game this year on a PI no call in the end zone. Current Junior TE going to ND. Have sent kids to AU (Ben Leard), FSU, etc.]
 
#112
#112
Vanderbilt would be foolish to fire Mason. They will never be able to find another Franklin, so they might as well stick it out with a decent enough coach who has taken them to two bowls in four years.
 
#113
#113
Seeing Jimbo that high is a head scratcher. I get they have lost their last couple. But they have been to good teams. Plus buyout means he ain't going anywhere.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Hoosier_Vol
#114
#114
And the coaches at the top of the food chain (according to this site) are:

College Football News Midseason Head Coach Rankings 1-130
176
SHARES
By: Pete Fiutak | 13 hours ago


00:22
Powered by Minute Media powered-by-strip
CRUSHING IT: The coaches who did the best jobs in the first half of the 2019 college football season

10. Nick Saban, Alabama (6-0)

Best Win: Alabama 47, Texas A&M 28
Worst Game: Alabama 47, South Carolina 23
Midseason Thought: It’s Alabama. It’s supposed to be 6-0 with barely a yawn. Ask Clemson how much fight it takes to play at the highest of levels each week. Ask Georgia how it’s going with all the NFL talent on its roster.

The defense needs to be a whole lot better when the lights finally come on – the schedule hasn’t been that bad so far – but overall, Bama is 6-0 at the midway point, and the machine keeps rolling along. That’s nothing to take for granted.

9. Willie Fritz, Tulane (5-1)

Best Win: Tulane 42, Army 33
Worst Loss: Auburn 24, Tulane 6
Midseason Thought: The fake late against Houston – followed up by the game-winning touchdown pass – were enough to make Fritz a Coach of the Year in the social media world, but it’s more than that. The Green Wave are looking and playing like possible American Athletic Conference champs – or at least in the mix – but the big boys are coming up.

8. Scott Satterfield, Louisville (4-2)

Best Win: Louisville 62, Wake Forest 59
Worst Loss: Florida State 35, Louisville 24
Midseason Thought: Talk about a total program-changer, Louisville got itself a star. Remember how bad the Cardinals were last year and how hopeless the defense was? Now they’re 4-2, they just handed Wake Forest its first loss, and yeah … they might go bowling. It’s been just half a season, but it’s looking like a brilliant hire.

7. Sonny Dykes, SMU (6-0)

Best Win: SMU 41, TCU 38
Worst Game: SMU 37, Arkansas State 30
Midseason Thought: Well isn’t this a slice of something. SMU fans who still have to hear the words death and penalty at least a few times a week have a fun team that’s blowing up on offense for a program that hasn’t played this well in decades. The schedule gets nastier, but Dykes in Year Two has put together a team good enough to be in the mix for the AAC title and a New Year’s Six game.

6. Matt Rhule, Baylor (6-0)

Week 7: Baylor 23, Iowa State 21
Worst Game: Baylor 21, Rice 13
Midseason Thought: Rhule keeps showing why the NFL was so hot for his services. He’s been able to do a total overhaul of the program and its style, winning with defense, limited mistakes, and the mental toughness to come through in tight game after tight game. From 1-11, to 7-6, to an undefeated start – he and his staff have been fantastic this year.

5. Gus Malzahn, Auburn (5-1)

Best Win: Auburn 27, Oregon 21
Worst Loss: Florida 24, Auburn 13
Midseason Thought: There’s a chance that Oregon really is one of the four best teams in college football, and to start the season, Malzahn made the call to start a true freshman quarterback against a team with a guy who’d probably have been the New York Giant starting QB had he left early. Bo Nix wasn’t perfect, but he beat Justin Herbert.


Malzahn might always be one loss away from a hot seat list, but 5-1 after facing Oregon, Texas A&M, Mississippi State, Tulane – yeah, this year Tulane – and Florida on the slate? Ol’ Gus is doing alright.


4. Ryan Day, Ohio State (6-0)

Best Win: Ohio State 34, Michigan State 10
Worst Game: Ohio State 45, Florida Atlantic 21
Midseason Thought: It’s being glossed over because he made it look so easy, but think about just how much pressure was and is on Day. He has more NFL talent on his roster than the rest of the Big Ten combined, and he’s at Ohio State, where it’s unacceptable to win by anything less than a gajillion. His team has been nothing short of perfect so far.

3. Lincoln Riley, Oklahoma (6-0)

Best Win: Oklahoma 34, Texas 27
Worst Game: Oklahoma 45, Kansas 20
Midseason Thought: Remember, in the 2018 Alabama spring game, Jalen Hurts – to be kind – struggled throwing the ball. It was a bad day, and obviously it was an aberration, but don’t just assume it was a given that the Oklahoma offense was going to lose its second straight Heisman-winning, No. 1 overall draft pick quarterback and be just as good. It’s even better so far under Hurts, and the hiring of coordinator Alex Grinch has given the Sooners a real, live defense.

Also remember that 1) Oklahoma lost last year’s Red River Showdown game against Texas, and 2) this is the first time Oklahoma has been 6-0 to start a season since 2011.

2. Ed Orgeron, LSU (6-0)

Best Win: LSU 42, Florida 28
Worst Game: LSU 66, Vanderbilt 38
Midseason Thought: Before last season, Orgeron was No. 1 on just about every hot seat list. LSU was going to lose to Miami, it wasn’t going to handle the tough schedule, he failed before at USC (sort of, not really) and Ole Miss, and now he has a killer team with an unstoppable attack. The D needs to play up to its talent level at some point, but 42 points or more in each of the first six games?! No team in college football has two better wins than at Texas and against Florida.

1. Paul Chryst, Wisconsin (6-0)

Best Win: Wisconsin 35, Michigan 14
Worst Game: Wisconsin 24, Northwestern 15
Midseason Thought: Four shutouts in six games. You have to go back to the 1962 Minnesota Golden Gophers for the last time that happened in the Big Ten.

No. 1 in total defense. No. 1 in time of possession. No. 1 in pass defense. No. 1 in third down conversions. No. 1 in run defense. No. 1 in scoring defense. No. 5 in fewest penalties.

Name a team that has two wins on the resumé like Michigan and Michigan State that has been closer to being perfect in all phases? There wasn’t been so much as a blip in the wipeout paycheck games against Kent State and Central Michigan, and this is college football’s only team that has yet to trail in any game.

The road games are coming – five of the first six were in Camp Randall – but over the first half of the season, no team was better coached.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Hoosier_Vol
#116
#116
gordonr24 said:
Derek Mason is supposedly on the hot seat. He is NOT the problem. The problem is that he’s coaching at Vanderbilt, which is the problem. He took the program to 2 bowls in 4 years.

It’s difficult to recruit there, the facilities are terrible, and there’s zero fan support. He plays a ‘road’ game virtually all season.

But...if they fire Mason, the smart move would be to look at Jeff Monken at Army. Vandy isn’t going to compete with the SEC by trying to do what everyone else does. Switching to a triple option offensive philosophy could be the key to them being more competitive in the SEC.

Hopefully Vandy doesn’t share the same thoughts as me, but it is a bold and wise move. I would hate having to face a triple option offense every season.
Click to expand...
Vandy should also talk to Brian Bohannon the head coach of Kennesaw State
 
#117
#117
gordonr24 said:
It’s the unwillingness to upgrade facilities which is why I believe Georgia Tech went the triple option route when it hired Paul Johnson.
Click to expand...
GT has started upgrading their facilities with a new weight room,locker room and additions to Bobby Dodd Stadium. Geoff Collins is #38 on the Coaches Hotseat List.
 
Last edited:
#123
#123
As much I'd love for FSU to keep clueless Willie Taggart, if he misses another bowl game they'll can him...And that sucks because I'm pretty sure they won't screw up the hire again.
 
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.

VN Store



Back
Top